


Everyday Practice

by wickedrum



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: F/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:43:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19204951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedrum/pseuds/wickedrum
Summary: Knowing that Kelly might always be unable to sustain a long term romantic relationship does not deter Stella from being drawn to habitually offering her support.





	1. Hurdle Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Set: Somewhere around the second part of Season 7 before the Finale where they get back together.
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimers: I barely own my knickers. When I am writing, it's mainly for my own pleasure.
> 
> Genre: sickfic, friendship, romance.
> 
> Pairing: all as canon
> 
> Note: I’m only a casual, occasional viewer when it comes to Chicago Fire so if anything’s incorrect, please let me know.

Chapter 1: Hurdle Bar

 

“Forgot something?” Stella couldn’t really imagine any other reason for Antonio Dawson to come back into Molly’s after closing time.

 

“No,” the detective settled back onto a barstool so that he could lean over the counter a bit, “I just thought you might want to know that your boyfriend is out there spewing his guts out. It doesn’t look pretty.” Then with the job completed, he pushed himself away from the bar once more.

 

“My boyfriend?” The term only puzzled her for one moment. Of course nobody could blame the cop for not keeping up with the changing relationships at FireHouse 51, so Stella had to assume Antonio meant Severide. “Oh, thanks for letting me know,” she nodded at the departing man. 

 

“You want me to check on him?” Bossman Hermann ambled closer, being a bit more in the know about the intricacies of said relationship between the Lieutenant and the firefighter. 

 

“No, that’s okay, I should go,” Stella placed down the form she was in the middle of filling in and practically raced out the establishment, knowing that Kelly would not hang around long for any weakness to be displayed out there in the open. She was a little relieved to find him leaning against the nearest lamppost with his back, and somewhat further away from a foul smelling puddle Stella didn’t give much consideration. She wasn’t there in a paramedic capacity after all. “Kelly,” she stopped a step away from him, worried as she took in his pale appearance and the hand clutching at his midsection. 

 

“I’m, I’m..” The blue eyed man clearly had trouble getting himself under control enough to speak. 

 

“Fine? Is that what you were gonna say?” Stella was appalled as she rolled her eyes. “You didn’t drink that much,” she shared her observation. The beautiful woman had always found it hard to avoid glancing at her ex whenever he was present, and she was one of the bartenders after all. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Don’t know,” he remained evasive, though he didn’t make much of an attempt at appearing more in control apart from trying to straighten up a little, which he gave up on immediately with a slight wince.

“Oh no. You need to sit down,” Stella decided it was time to ignore his predilection for wanting to be left alone to deal with his problems and turned to grab him by the elbow, “let’s get you inside.”

 

“The fresh air was helping,” he contended the suggestion.

 

“That’s fine, but not that much by the looks of it. So what is it, exactly?”

 

“I’m fine, Stella. I just need to sleep it off.”

 

“Oh, come on. The hell you are. You want me to believe this is alcohol induced?” She hauled him into a standing position with her usual decisiveness, “well, you will have a little rest inside, some water and then I will personally take you home like a good friend would.”

 

“All that is not necessary, you know.”

 

“All is not? But some part of it is?”

 

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

 

“Yeah, I don’t care what you meant. You’re getting the special treatment whether you want it or not,” Stella decided as she opened the door for the lieutenant. 

 

“But the air,” Severide baulked at entrance, “I’m pretty sure the smell of liquor was the problem situation earlier and I don’t think Hermann wants to clean up puke.”

 

“And I’m pretty sure that would be my job,” the firewoman encouraged. 

 

“Yep, pretty sure,” Hermann was already ready with a glass of club soda water he was placing on the nearest table to the door, all probabilities covered.

 

“Just give it a minute, okay?” Stella placed a supporting hand on Kelly’s shoulder, “we can wait with the closing up.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” the shorter lieutenant waved them off, “I can close up, you take Severide home. Sorted,” he assured, “we can all have bad days.”

 

“Thanks man,” Kelly muttered half-heartedly, too busy being embarrassed and giving into his body’s wish to lean his head down onto his arm on the table. 

 

“You nauseous?” Stella was getting increasingly worried noting his erratic breathing and the lip bite, “look, the water might help,” she pushed the glass a bit more towards him. 

 

“Don’t think so,” her ex swayed as he tried to lift his head, making her reach out to steady him and Hermann pause in his cleaning. 

 

“I’m gonna go paramedic on you, okay? Cause you really don’t look good for a tough guy firefighter,” Stella went for his pulse, “Kelly? Talk to me,” she stepped closer to support him from the back, “I just don’t…” She lost some of her first responder cool, “Hermann, whatever else you’re doing, I think I need help. His pulse rate is very slow. I’m pretty sure he’s close to passing out. Kelly? We’re gonna get you down on the ground,” she worked together with the equally first aid conscious older firefighter to maneuver the right enough quite limp and barely reacting Kelly onto the ground. 

 

“Do you want me to call for an ambo?” The bar manager looked up at his more medically educated colleague. 

 

“Not yet,” Stella unbuttoned Kelly’s shirt and cupped his face to try to get his attention, “your stomach hurts? Anywhere else?”

 

“I’m sorry,” Kelly tried to focus his hazy eyes on her face. 

 

“That’s not what I asked,” the ex paramedic was getting exasperated. Sure it was nice to get an apology out of him for whatever it was meant for, but it wasn’t the right time. Additionally, that made her wonder if he was lucid, “what is the date today, Kelly?”

 

“Wait, no. Just my stomach,” the lieutenant answered the previous question instead, not wanting her to go overboard, “I think I can sit up now.”

 

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Stella nodded her thanks at the bar owner who had produced some ice wrapped in a towel in the meantime that she place on the back of Severide’s neck, “you may wanna just hold this for now. Manage?” She waited to make sure. “So uh, I don’t know, tell me what happened.”

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come out, that’s what happened. My stomach’s been off for the last week or so, but still, I thought that if I was well enough for work, I should be well enough for a night out too.”

 

“Off in what way?”

 

“Well, I told you. Just hurting, feeling weird, nausea, been sick a couple of times, nothing major. The stomach flu probably, didn’t hit me too bad though. Can I get up now?”

 

“Uh but uh..alright,” the brunette relented, releasing his wrist after having checked his pulse again, “but you tell me if you feel faint,” she hovered as he pushed up into a sitting position. 

 

“Over to the booths maybe,” Hermann advocated, keeping a hand on him as they herded him into that direction together. 

 

“You sit here while we finish closing up. You can lie back if you need to. That should give you enough time to get your feet under yourself again and then I can take you home.”

 

Kelly’s sincere big blue eyes had more success focussing on her this time as he formulated his simple response, “thanks, Stella.” His words however did not convey half the gratitude he felt. Everything was so much better when she was there to support him.

 

Tbc


	2. Latitude Clearance

Chapter 2: Latitude Clearance

 

“There’s no need to wake Matt up. Hey, I am perfectly capable of puking my guts out on my own,” Kelly argued as Stella virtually bundled him into bed, pulled his jeans off and placed a bottle of water on the bedstand. 

 

“C’mon, no more puking,” his ex-girlfriend gestured to negate as if it would have been in his power to control, “I mean you’ve done enough of that on your way here. Any more and I’ll need to ask Sylvie to come over with some iv bags and rehydration salts. You don’t even know what caused the issue!”

 

“Aren’t you enough? You were a paramedic. I hear it’s like riding a bike too.”

 

Stella gave a non-committal half-shrug, “Right. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to examine you. I think I should. So how did this start?”

 

“I told you, I had been feeling off for a couple of weeks.”

 

“Yeah I know but off how?”

 

“The odd twinge, no appetite. If I forced myself I would puke it out.”

 

“Uhuh right, right,” Stella reached to pull his shirt up, “where..where does it hurt?”

 

Kelly bit his lip and put a hand over the upper part of his belly reluctantly. “Ok so hands to the side, I’m playing doctor,” the ex paramedic started to push and feel different parts of his abdomen, “does this hurt at all?”

 

“No. Just up,” the lieutenant shook his head till Stella reached the middle of his belly above the bellybutton, part where he could not repress an irritable grunt at her ministrations, “aren’t you worried I’m going to puke on you?”

 

“You wouldn’t dare. That’s another thing I don’t miss from my time as a paramedic, Kelly. I don’t think you need the hospital right now, but if it gets any worse I’m taking you,” the dark haired woman settled the discussion with plopping herself down bum first on the bed beside him, “are you sure you’re not going to puke?” She checked nevertheless.

 

“I’ve still got the towels,” Kelly referred to the stack he continued to keep by the bed from the long past era where he had been constantly drunk. 

 

“Alright, I need a pillow,” Stella pulled herself up to settle against his shoulder so she could lie on her side. For some moments, she hesitated, wondering where she should place her hand, then eventually decided it was still okay to drape her arm in the most comfortable position across his chest. “Still fine?”

 

“Thank you for this..”

 

“Uh, knowing you, I figure you won’t tell me if you got any worse so maybe this is the only way to find out, close contact,” the curly haired woman sounded sleepy enough to give the impression she would not want to talk anymore.

 

Tbc


	3. Forenoon Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stella and Matt share their concerns about their friend.

Chapter 3: Forenoon Watch

 

Matt Casey was no nosey person, but he could not hide the hint of a pleased smile standing by the counter preparing his coffee as Stella appeared to be slipping out from behind Severide’s ajar bedroom door. “Uh, it’s not what you think,” the female firefighter rushed to explain. She slid onto one of the barstools by the island to pour herself from some of the freshly prepared brew as well. 

 

“I’m thinking it was something?” Matt furrowed his brow in mock confusion.

 

“Hell yeah. So, did you know Kelly was sick?” Stella countered the question with another. 

 

Matt’s expression turned serious quickly, “would it be his stomach again?”

 

“So sounds like this has been going on for a while?”

 

“Depends on what you mean by ‘this’.”

 

“Pain, throwing up?” Stella whispered.

 

“Yeah, uhm..yeah. Kind of since you left, coincidentally I mean,” he tried to quickly conceal that what he really thought slipped out, “and I figured it was maybe stress related or something like that. Or connected to the drinking,” the captain glanced in his flatmate’s bedroom’s direction, not fancying his chances of Kelly finding out he was gossiping about him either.

 

“Drinking?” Stella sounded perturbed.

 

“Yeah, which is why I thought that you..” Matt frowned and censured himself.

 

“That me coming back was such good news,” the curly haired woman finished the conjecture anyway.

 

“Hey look Kidd, it’s none of your responsibility what Severide does and how he reacts to matters. That’s not what this is about, I wouldn’t say or mean such a thing.”

 

“I know that, And yet you didn’t move out when you could’ve, several times over. Sylvie told me,” she shrugged. 

 

“Well it wasn’t just about that, but I’m not going to lie, I am concerned about him. His head isn’t where it should be, and I didn’t realise something might be wrong with him physically too.” 

 

“Can you help me convince him to see a doctor? Or stay at home today at least?”

 

“I’ll try,” Matt inclined his head, aware of the potential enormity of the task, “so..his alarm should be going off any time now.”

 

“I wish I could just turn it off,” Stella knew she could not make that decision herself, not even if they were still an item. 

 

“Listen, maybe I could talk to Boden, make sure Severide gets as little amount of shifts as possible without it getting too suspicious,” the blue eyed firefighter was ready to conspire. As if to accentuate the importance of his words, there were sounds of throwing up coming from the respective bedroom.

 

Tbc


	4. Retainers

Chapter 4: Retainers

 

“Look, this is completely unnecessary,” Kelly tugged at the iv line set up by his bed in the emergency department Stella and Matt had dragged him into. Ultimately, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice as it was proving very difficult to conceal the cramping of his stomach when there was no way he could straighten up without grinding his teeth together or practically passing out from the pain. 

 

“Not completely,” the doctor pulled the curtain closed behind himself for a more personal chat with the firefighters he saw often in work situations, “good news is we haven’t found anything that would warrant more urgent investigations. Bloods came back negative apart from that dehydration you do need the fluids for, there’s indication of a moderate infection we are not particularly concerned about, some mild anaemia and one of the digestive functions is a little off, nothing to worry about too much though.”

 

“Can I look at those,” Stella reached for the files tentatively that were given to her after Kelly’s noncommittal shrug.

 

“As you can see, nothing that could indicate anything serious. The ultrasound shows a similar pattern,” the doctor waved at her to turn the page.

 

Stella shook her head and frowned, “no. Kelly has a high tolerance for pain. He wouldn’t be in here if there was nothing much wrong. We need to find out what it is. Additionally, he is a fit and healthy firefighter so these slightly off numbers do not make sense either,” she glanced at Kelly to find him strangely complacent with her arguments, which was another thing that didn’t make sense. His protests were not strong enough, at any point during this ordeal.

 

“I didn’t say we aren’t going to investigate. I only said that the gastroscopy I ordered will not be performed on an urgent basis. You can arrange it with your own healthcare professional as an outpatient or we can either admit him if the pain is not manageable and it will be done some time tomorrow. Kelly?” 

 

“It’s best to stay,” Stella inserted, leaning to squeeze his hand in a desperate attempt to deter him from leaving the hospital even if she knew it was futile, “tell him it’s best to stay,” he appealed to the resident.

 

“How is the pain?” The doctor ventured to ask the patient.

 

“A five.”

 

“He’s lying,” Stella put forward.

 

“Different kinds of patients tend to either overestimate or underestimate their pain, it’s already calculated in,” the assigned physician offered boldly, “aren’t paramedics taught to do the same?”

 

“Yeah,” the woman admitted.

 

“Either way, there’s no doubt that Kelly is in sufficient control of his faculties to make the judgement about his care himself.”

 

“You will get the investigations done quicker if you stay,” Stella argued without much conviction that it was good for anything.

 

“And more expensive,” the lieutenant produced the other usual argument. 

 

“Alright,” the doctor didn’t expect anything else, “but I recommend no work while you’re still vomiting.”

 

“So he has to go through a medical fitness check before he goes back to the fire station?” Stella grabbed at the latest straw she knew Kelly had to abide by as a firefighter. 

 

“I would say so. A good bit of rest tends to do wonders,” was the doctor’s last recommendation before leaving them to look at another patient’s files.

 

tbc


	5. Common Knowledge

Chapter 5: Common Knowledge

 

“You don’t need to check on me every day,” Kelly stepped aside to let Stella in the door nevertheless. 

 

“If you weren’t the poster boy for neglecting your own health then yeah maybe,” the woman with the gorgeous curls sauntered in, “how has he been today?” She asked Matt instead. 

 

“A good boy,” the captain joked, “if you can call a couch potato that.”

 

“Which is why I’m going to work tomorrow,” Kelly lifted the glass of water he had in front of him to his lips. 

 

“If they’ll clear you,” Stella stressed.

 

“I don’t see why not, I’ve been at work in a lot worse shape.”

 

“Don’t I know it,” Matt chastised. 

 

“I know that chances are they’ll clear you,” Stella admitted, “no more vomiting today, right?”

 

“I wasn’t around,” Matt shrugged, with an indication that he didn’t exactly trust his friend’s word on it either.

 

“Promise,” Kelly grumbled with an eye roll. 

 

“Shouldn’t you be happy we care about you?” Stella teased, settling down beside him on the couch and pulling her knees up onto it comfortably.

 

“Thanks. Any big incidents today?” He tried to change the subject. 

 

“If you’re cleared for work, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to the gastroscopy appointment,” his ex maintained. She scooted closer and sneaked a hand atop the mentioned body part almost as she would have if they were still on intimate terms. 

 

“I’m okay.” The little sneaky move did not escape Kelly’s attention. He pulled back a bit, but didn’t tense under her touch.

 

“We’ll drag you there, kicking and screaming if need be,” Matt offered his support too.

 

“Hey, did I say I wasn’t going?” Kelly looked pointedly at the hand still gently smoothing over his belly.

 

“Alright, you caught me doing an examination,” Stella withdrew with a nod at Matt, pleased with the covert examination. Doing more would have crossed some boundaries, but for now, they could be satisfied that their friend they both cared for so much has recovered sufficiently for a breather at least.

 

The End.


End file.
